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San Bernardo buying blow

For most of its history, methamphetamine had been a second-classdrug, never as popular as amphetamines and never as glamorous amongdrug users as cocaine, heroin or LSD. Then, about 60 years after it was first created by a Japanesescientist, the drug of choice for outlaw bikers and the rural poorsuddenly was being used in Southern California by white-collarworkers, young mothers, high school students, nurses, teachers andother seemingly unlikely groups. In , the federal government classified as a controlledsubstance the chemical phenylacetone, also known as P2P, whichuntil then had been a main ingredient of methamphetamine, which wasbeing made in illicit labs. Within a year of that new classification, federal DrugEnforcement Agency raids in San Diego were discovering labs makingmeth with ephedrine, the active ingredient in over-the-counterdecongestants. The new meth was easier to make, its ingredientswere legal and easy to find, and the drug itself was stronger andmore addictive. San Diego also was in a perfect storm, geographically speaking,for meth use to spread. Since the s, the drug had beendistributed in California by the Hells Angels motorcycle club,which was founded north of San Diego County in San Bernardino. Just to the south, methamphetamine was being made in Mexico,where labs operated with little interference from the law. Precursors such as ephedrine, hydriodic acid, red phosphorus andFreon were available at several chemical firms, but two stood outas the biggest supplier for meth labs in the s. Chuck, a retired undercover officer who spoke on the conditionof anonymity, remembers those labs well. As an Oceanside PoliceDepartment sergeant, he participated in the raid on one of thefirms. As an undercover agent with the state Department of Justice,he snared almost meth-makers and shut down 29 labs in thebiggest meth bust in history. Retired since from a career that included 20 years in theMarines, Chuck sports tattoos, a finely trimmed gray beard, andstill rides a Harley-Davidson. A martial-arts expert, he also stillhas the intense look of a man only a fool would cross. Chuck was a clean-cut Oceanside police officer from to, and in his final year on the force helped shut down achemical company called Quantum on Palomar Airport Road inCarlsbad. Quantum was little more than a convenience store for methmanufacturers, Chuck said. While the business sold only goods thatwere legal at the time, they broke the law because they knew theirproducts were being used to make an illegal drug. Chuck said dozens of customers came into Quantum daily, and thebusiness operated for several years before investigators gatheredenough evidence to justify a search warrant and a raid in Others working in the shop feigned ignorance about howtheir products were used but were convicted, he said. In , RJM owner Robert Miskinis brazenly hired a lobbyist whopersuaded lawmakers to delay implementing a bill that required bulkpurchases of ephedrines to be reported to the state Department ofJustice, Owen wrote. After the media reported that Miskinis hadbeen charged in with making methamphetamine, embarrassedpoliticians revoked the delay that they had agreed to earlier. Two years later, the DEA had built a case and raided three RJMlabs, including one in Lakeside, where agents found a literflask capable of making 80 pounds of meth and enough ephedrine andother chemicals to make 50 tons of the drug. In , the DEA raided three other chemical houses believed tobe owned by Miskinis, including one in Carlsbad that sold assembledmeth kits and instruction books. Miskinis was sentenced to 40 years but served only four after anappeals court decided he was not adequately represented by hisattorney, Owen wrote. Chuck, a state Justice Department agent at the time, said RJMand Quantum appeared to be businesses unique to San Diego County,although he knew of a smaller chemical business in Las Vegas thatwas investigated by authorities there. There was one other illicit chemical lab in San Diego County,though, and Chuck was the man behind the counter. With a gun tucked under his belt and a tape recorder strapped tohis back, Chuck worked the back room of Triple Neck Scientific onMagnatron Boulevard in Kearny Mesa for nine months in and With hidden cameras capturing the transactions, Chuck trappedhis customers in a well-orchestrated ruse. The business advertisedin magazines aimed to attract dealers, and its very name — TripleNeck — referred to the type of round-bottomed flasks commonly usedin meth labs. Looking every bit as tough as his worst customers, Chuck warnedTriple Neck clients to keep an eye out for cops who might spot themcoming and going to the business. Meanwhile, he made notes of thelicense plates of the cars pulling out of his lot. When offered the drug, he declinedand said he was a recovering heroin addict who no longer used. When a biker turned thetables and patted him on the back and felt his tape recorder, Chucksaid it was a concealed gun. The biker asked to see it. But not all customers were hardened bikers. One was a soccercoach, another a nurse, and another was a Neighborhood Watchcaptain. Chuck specifically remembers a man who sent his children, ages10 and 15, into his business to buy chemicals. After nine months, the list of Triple Neck customers was usedfor a massive raid on a Sunday in March , when officersfrom state, local and federal agencies raided dozens of homesthroughout the county, closing 29 labs and arresting almost people. Faced with incriminating videos, 90 percent of the suspectspleaded guilty and the remaining 10 percent were found guilty. Chuck said most were sentenced to 10 to 20 years. The man who senthis kids to buy chemicals pleaded not guilty, he said, and receiveda stiffer sentence. Chuck said the operation also revealed, to the surprise of manyagents participating in the raids, that meth was no longer just adrug made and used by bikers. The sting operation, Operation Crankcase, has been criticizedbecause Triple Neck Scientific provided precursors that were turnedinto methamphetamine used on the streets for nine months. Chuckdefended the operation, saying manufacturers would have found theirprecursors anyway from other sources. Operation Crankcase had an immediate effect on the county, hesaid. With precursors from SanDiego supplied to several other states, meth use began to risenationally. Contact staff writer Gary Warth at or gwarth nctimes. By San Diego Union-Tribune sandiegouniontribune sduniontribune. Originally Published: September 16, at a. Share this: Click to share on Twitter Opens in new window Click to share on Facebook Opens in new window Click to print Opens in new window Click to email a link to a friend Opens in new window Click to share on Reddit Opens in new window. More in News.

Winter in the Valle di Gran San Bernardo

San Bernardo buying blow

You can get busted, a rival gang can kill you for the product, you can inhale toxic fumes, or you can blow yourself up. Still, it is the best way that Bernardo, a scrawny year-old deportee from California with jailhouse tattoos, sees of making a living. He asked to use only his first name because police could arrest him. Bernardo is one of thousands of meth cooks-for-hire who have helped drive Mexican production of the hyper stimulant to unseen levels. In fiscal year , the United States Border Patrol seized a record 3, pounds of meth at the Mexican border, more than double the 1, pounds it seized in Border Patrol agents nab the drugs from smugglers trying to sneak between the ports of entry. Meanwhile, customs officials seize even more meth at border bridges. Last year in the San Diego section of the border alone, customs agents took a whopping 14, pounds of meth. All together, the U. That's more than 17 tons — equal to the combined weight of about seven midsize SUVs. Mexican traffickers have achieved this booming meth production by adapting their labs, switching recipes, and finding new sources of precursor ingredients, GlobalPost found in interviews with traffickers, drug agents and in government reports. The smugglers feed 'tweekers,' as meth users are known, across the U. They take the stimulant to party, to work long hours, or to feed their addiction. The drug can be smoked, snorted, injected or taken orally. Long-term users risk permanent damage to their lungs, kidneys or brains. They may also suffer from 'meth mouth' — rampant tooth decay and severe gum disease. It is big money, though. In some other parts of the country it's worth double that. Profits for meth are higher than most other drugs because the ingredients to make it are so cheap, including chemicals used in flu medicine. It allows the cartels to buy sophisticated weapons. It gives them an opportunity to expand their distribution tentacles. It allows them to buy political favors through corruption. It also drives violence. The war between rival Mexican drug cartels and the security forces is estimated to have left more than 80, dead since , including many bystanders. Biker gangs and others used to produce most American meth in small labs inside the United States, often in bathtubs. But the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act heavily regulated precursors, effectively smashing this industry. Mexican cartels filled the gap, stepping in to build super labs in Pacific states such as Sinaloa and here in Michoacan. However, as Mexican police and soldiers busted these vast operations, cartels adapted their methods, Bernardo explains. As well as running some big labs, the crime syndicates now often cook meth — known here as 'hielo' ice — in clusters of small labs scattered over hills and valleys. Traffickers with capital buy raw ingredients in bulk, then subcontract producers like Bernardo to do the dirty work. When he gets a commission, he heads to the hills and sets up a temporary lab with plastic barrels and generators. The finished product — which looks like flaky white, blue or pink crystals — is packed into plastic Tupperware-style boxes. A native of this farming town, Bernardo first learned to cook meth when he lived in San Bernardino, Calif. When he returned home in , he worked for the Knights Templar drug cartel, which controlled Michoacan state. However, a vigilante movement pushed the Templars out of the Antunez last year. The authorities later deputized many of those vigilantes into a new rural police force. Since the Templars have gone, many cooks have returned to making meth, Bernardo says. They now work for a new web of traffickers, including some former Templars and others with links to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Michoacan has seen a recent surge in violence as scattered groups of traffickers, vigilantes and rural police fight each other and the federal security forces. One firefight near the town of Ruana caught on video in December left 11 dead. More gunfights erupted in nearby Apatzingan this month. Soldiers have busted two meth labs in Ruana in recent months. Security forces have also raided labs in Michoacan capital Morelia and neighboring Mexico State. The operations were in residences and warehouses, and in cities as well as in the countryside. Mexican traffickers import the raw ingredients — or precursors — into Pacific ports such as Lazaro Cardenas in Michoacan. Back in , Mexican security forces busted record quantities of a precursor called pseudoephedrine, much of it coming from China. However, after Mexico cracked down on pseudoephedrine, the traffickers have switched to other ingredients. Forensic profiling on meth smuggled through Mexico into the U. In , the Philippines police arrested three alleged Mexican cartel members with a stash of meth. The Knights Templar — who portray themselves as righteous warriors, named after an order of monks from the Crusades — had banned sales of meth inside Michoacan's own towns. However, since they have been pushed out, Bernardo says some people are selling it locally, which also adds a boost to his production. Bernardo says he occasionally gets high on his own supply himself, getting the rush of energy and euphoria provided by amphetamines. But he says he has taken it for several years and never developed a serious addiction. But for me, it's just a chemical. It is up to you if you want to take it or not. This article originally appeared on GlobalPost. Home U. Meth cooks-for-hire help boost drug traffic to USA. Ioan Grillo GlobalPost. Facebook Twitter Email. Share your feedback to help improve our site!

San Bernardo buying blow